New Delhi: It is good news for those women who is the employees of the Central government, soon they will be able to file sexual harassment complaints online. Today, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi took the decision at a meeting after she received complaints from aggrieved women employees from various ministries.
Officials from various department and ministries were also present in the meeting. The officials are from Department of financial services, Sports ministry, Railway ministry, Ministry of home Affairs, and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
A senior officer said that the e-platform for posting complaints will be hosted on the Women and Child Development ministry’s website. He further added that the complaints will then be taken up with the respective ministries/departments.
He said that an inter-ministerial committee headed by a senior WCD official will be constituted to review the status of the complaints. The forum will also ensure that all Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) heads are imparted training on how to resolve such complaints.
It has also been decided that the Department of Personnel and Training(DoPT) will issue direction to ensure that training programmes for all services include a module on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to sensitise the government staff.
Moreover, the Women and Child Development ministry will also issue guidelines for dealing with sexual harassment complaints. These will include a monthly as well as an annual report, to be prepared by the Internal Complaints Committee of each ministry, on the status of complaints received.
The official said that the cadre controlling authority of a victim will be required to monitor her progress for 5 years, in order to ensure that she is not further tormented for complaining against a colleague.
He added that a similar exercise for the private sector is also on the anvil.
This innovative move for the women safety at the work place comes after the several women employees wrote to the Women and Child Development ministry about delay in getting their complaints about sexual harassment resolved.
Leave a Reply